Picture special: Maidenhead Festival 2016

The success of this year’s Maidenhead Festival has proved the town’s critics wrong.

That’s according to festival chairman Lisa Hunter who says the smiling faces of people young and old throughout the two-day event made the months of planning worthwhile.

Kidwells Park once again played host to the community-run festival and thousands of people streamed through the gates on Saturday and Sunday to take advantage of a full free programme of activities.

The festival’s main stage saw crowds entertained by performers from all sides of the musical spectrum across the weekend.

Music lovers were taken on a journey through time with sets ranging from tributes to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons to the iconic British pop group, The Spice Girls.  

Festival chairman Lisa Hunter told the Advertiser: “The reason we do this is because we’re passionate about Maidenhead.

“We feel Maidenhead sometimes gets a bad name and this proves them wrong.

“Social media has played a big part in this success. We used to have to push the message out but now people are coming to us.”

Musical acts including Maidenhead’s very own bronzed cabaret singer Kevin Cruise gave the crowds an excuse to get up and dance on the festival’s first day.

But music wasn’t all that was on offer and festival goers made the most of the funfair, inflatable fun zone and the Baby Big Top, which featured a host of circus shows and workshops.

Maidenhead’s MP and the new Prime Minister Theresa May even found time to pop in.

Festival committee chairman Lisa added: “I think it’s great that even though she’s now the Prime Minister and is rather busy she still found time to pop in and see the community.

“It shows she still cares.”

This year’s festival saw new sponsors including the Heathrow Community Partnership and AbbVie join the likes of The Louis Baylis Charitable Trust and the Shanly Foundation in funding the event.

While the sun-worshippers were faced with cloudier conditions on Sunday, the party continued and was rounded off with a performance by the Spice Up Your Life tribute act which had revellers singing Viva Forever long into the night.